Field
The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices, and specifically to surgical instruments and methods for performing spinal procedures.
Background
The spine is critical in human physiology for mobility, support, and balance. The spine protects the nerves of the spinal cord, which convey commands from the brain to the rest of the body, and convey sensory information from the nerves below the neck to the brain. Even minor spinal injuries can be debilitating to the patient, and major spinal injuries can be catastrophic. The loss of the ability to bear weight or permit flexibility can immobilize the patient. Even in less severe cases, small irregularities in the spine can put pressure on the nerves connected to the spinal cord, causing devastating pain and loss of coordination.
The spinal column is a bio-mechanical structure composed primarily of ligaments, muscles, bones, and connective tissue that forms a series of vertebral bodies stacked one atop the other and intervertebral discs between each vertebral body. The spinal column provides support to the body and provides for the transfer of the weight and the bending movements of the head, trunk and arms to the pelvis and legs; complex physiological motion between these parts; and protection of the spinal cord and the nerve roots.
The stabilization of the vertebra and the treatment for above described conditions is often aided by a surgically implanted fixation device which holds the vertebral bodies in proper alignment and reduces the patient's pain and prevents neurologic loss of function. Spinal fixation is a well-known and frequently used medical procedure. Spinal fixation systems are often surgically implanted into a patient to aid in the stabilization of a damaged spine or to aid in the correction of other spinal deformities. Existing systems often use a combination of rods, plates, pedicle screws, bone hooks, locking screw assemblies and connectors for fixing the system to the affected vertebrae. The system components may be rigidly locked together to fix the connected vertebrae relative to each other, stabilizing the spine until the bones can fuse together.
Posterior fusion and accompanying fixation may be the preferred approach for patients in whom the construct requires an extension from the cervical spine to the occipital bone (e.g. where there is instability at the craniocervical junction). In this scenario, the cranial end of the rod is attached to the occipital bone (the back of the skull), via an occipital keel plate or other suitable connector. A large bend in the rod is generally required to accommodate the transition from the plane of the spine to the skull, which can make the process of aligning the rod and connector for coupling difficult. This difficulty is further exacerbated because it is not only necessary to make the rod and occipital connector meet, but to do so at a position that properly orients the skull relative to the spine.
Fusing the cranial cervical junction bars movement of the head relative to the spine, thus it is desirable to position the skull such that the patient will have a comfortable, horizontal gaze (such that the patient is not naturally looking too high or too low while in a neutral standing position). While certain devices, such as adjustable occipital plate connectors, and adjustable angle rods have been developed to facilitate alignment of the rod and the occipital plate (or other connector), these require that the surgeon estimate the orientation of the head relative to the spine during the surgery while the patient is both in the prone position and unable to provide feedback to the surgeon. If the surgeon miscalculates during surgery, the patient could have a resulting orientation of the skull in which the patient's gaze is offset. The offset gaze will force the patient to constantly roll the eyes in awkward ways to have a normal frontal field of vision; and will result in the patient's total field of vision being offset. Consequently there is a need in the art for a way to adjust or set the orientation of the cranial cervical junction post-operatively if necessary.